SOLOMO, which stands for social, local, mobile, takes consumer information and provides it to businesses to give them better insight into what the customer’s interests are. As stated by Liz Eversoll, CEO, “Location Data is a brand new category that provides us amazing insight into consumers and what experiences they’d like to have”.

SOLOMO along with eight other Madison startups were selected out of hundreds to have an opportunity to pitch to Steve Case, the founder of AOL, at his Rise of the Rest Event. The event was held in downtown Madison at the Majestic last Monday. Rise of the Rest is a five city, 1,800-mile bus tour that will give startups across the mid-west a chance to pitch their company for a chance to win.

After waiting in anticipation after pitching in the afternoon, Liz Eversoll was announced the winner at the event later that evening. Case mentioned that many would be shocked that SOLOMO was out of Madison, WI as what they are developing ideas that typically come out of Silicon Valley. Case stated that they chose SOLOMO because they have “the potential to really be a break out company…to send a signal all around the country and all around the world that Madison is a hot startup hub”.

And what exactly was the prize you might ask? SOLOMO won $100,000 from Case’s investment firm and a trip to the 2015 South by Southwest Startup Village in March for an opportunity to win even more additional funding!

We are super excited to be a part of SOLOMO Technology and to be able to hear all about their journey in the future. Congratulations!

Regardless of the size, scope, or industry your business is involved in, the effectiveness of your employee management structure is essential if you intend on keeping your company a well-oiled machine with all of its parts in proper working order. This can be hard enough when you have the luxury of having everyone in a shared workspace where access to one another is constant and immediate. Office environments also have a more tangible feeling of community, which gives managers a grasp on the “people” side of their workforce.

However, with digital workspaces bridging the geological gaps, which used to force companies into the same building, a new and interesting array of issues has emerged for HR departments to tackle in order to replicate the same kind of strong bonds between supervisors and their team.

Fortunately, the adoption of online tools and virtual workspaces doesn’t only present challenges for employee/manager relations––it also presents a whole new way to communicate with your team that can potentially go beyond the limitations of the traditional office environment. (more…)

With the stress of increasing workloads mounting in many offices across the country, the idea of adequate employee recognition in the workplace is especially important to keeping spirits high amid particularly turbulent times. Luckily, it’s one aspect of management which is virtually impossible to overdo.

People love praise and this seems to hold even truer to the younger generation of workers who might be entering the workforce for the first time. For perspective, most workers of all kinds see very little positive feedback at all.

The practice of handing out annual reviews which is now becoming culturally ingrained in our business world might be useful for providing employees with a standardized way of comparing performance levels over time, but lacks the element of value and reward that gives good work the admiration it deserves.

If you aren’t convinced about the importance of dishing out some degree of proper recognition, consider the effects it has on your organization’s bottom line. A 10-year study that appeared in The Carrot Principle found that among 200,000 people, efficiency and return on equity were sometimes three times higher for companies who implemented recognition programs. (more…)

Ask employers across industries what qualities they desire in an employee and odds are you’ll receive a multitude of answers, ranging from “passion” to “commitment” to “productive”. But what each response essentially boils down to is: “motivated”. Motivation is essential to cultivating any and all of these desired traits. The trick for employers, however, is how to instill this motivation in employees.

The temptation for many companies is to turn to the simple solution: cash. Cough up more dough and reap the reward of increased motivation. Research, however, has proven that using money as a motivator does little to create a culture of engagement and prolonged productivity. Our start-up guidance: deal with money, not in money. Here’s how:

1. Determine what motivates prospective employees before hiring.

Why? It’s unrealistic to assume that a person’s values will change to mirror yours the second they set foot in the office. Gauging employee motivations in the interview ensures you know what you’re getting and can prepare for it. If an employee seems more interested in the financial benefits of your offer than the work itself, chances are he won’t hesitate to turn to competitors who can or will offer more. (more…)

Business books are a dime a dozen, but every once in awhile, I come across one that gets me thinking, stays with me and makes me want to share. That’s how I felt after listening to Daniel H. Pink’s “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”.

Part science and management theory, part down-to-earth management strategies, Pink’s premise is based on four decades of solid scientific research on human motivation. The book is full of businesses across the country who are putting this motivation theory to work with great results.

The 20th Century Motivation Model

The practice of scientific management was born in the early 1900s. At that time, most work consisted of simple, uninteresting tasks, and the only viable method to motivate people to do them was to incentivize them properly and monitor them closely. This is the carrot-and-stick approach. Reward the behavior you want and punish the behavior you don’t want. (more…)